Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Bourbon Chase - Overnight 200 Mile Relay

Yesterday I had a new Twitter follower, @willrun4bourbon, and upon checking them out found a great race idea for this fall!


The Bourbon Chase - Lexington, KY - October 9-10, 2009
Here's the rundown:

What? The Bourbon Chase is a unique, overnight relay adventure in which teams of runners cover 200 miles of scenic byways along the famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Participants will experience the best of Kentucky. Starting near Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World, and wrapping up with a festive finish in downtown Lexington, the Horse Capital of the World, The Bourbon Chase will treat runners to gorgeous horse farms and the rolling Bluegrass countryside.

And, as the event name implies, the featured attraction of the race will be the Kentucky Bourbon Trail which links the state's legendary distilleries.

When? The Bourbon Chase will take place October 9-10, 2009, with the starting times staggered based upon each team's estimated finish time. Beginning near the Jim Beam American Outpost & Homestead, the first flight of teams will start the 200 mile course at 8am. During the next 12 hours, every 15 minutes a new set of teams will begin their overnight journey through the Bluegrass State.

How? Teams are made up of 12 runners. Each member of the team will run three legs over distances varying from 3 – 7 miles. Each team will provide two support vans to drop off and pick up runners at designated exchange points along the 200-mile route. So, you don't have to be a world-class runner. From casual joggers to serious racers, this event is great fun for everyone.bourbon chase

Amenities? In addition to every finisher receiving a Bourbon Chase medal and a high-performance athletic Bourbon Chase shirt, a post-race party will be held in the heart of Lexington under the shadow of Rupp Arena. Streets will be closed to allow for live music, food and celebratory drinks.

Sounds pretty amazing, right?!

So here's the deal folks. I am 100% down to do this race. Matt's family lives in Kentucky so we would have no problem heading up that way for a long weekend. I can captain a 12-person team, and I already have interest from about 4-5 people.

Important Deets:
We would need to rent 2 passenger vans, and have 2 people who would volunteer to drive throughout the race, dropping us off and picking us up. (Boyfriends/Husbands??) If Matt doesn't decide to run, I am sure he will fill one of those spots.

We would all need to (obviously) find our own transportation to Kentucky, but we could definitely figure out a way to split up hotel rooms for those who would need to. (I believe the race organizers are still figuring out host hotels and all that jazz as this is the inaugural race.)

There is a limit of 150 teams for the race. It probably won't fill up too soon, but I would like to know sooner than later, who is committing to the race.

PLUS-if we register before March 31st, team registration is only $900! That comes out to $75 per person.

If we wait to register, it shoots up to $1200 and for those of us not-so-mathematically-inclined, that is $100 per person.

We do have the option of putting down a $300 deposit for our team, and paying the remainder prior to the race.

If anyone is interested in joining our team, please comment here and let me know how you're feeling about it.

I would like to know FOR SURE, by Wednesday, March 25th. That way you guys could get checks to me by Monday, March 30th.

This is going to be a fun event, and it would be a great way to meet some of you who I only know through a computer! :) KY is pretty far for some of you folks, but it would definitely be a good time had by all! Plus, there would be lots of Bourbon for us to celebrate with post-race!

As far as bringing along significant others, I think that would be fine! The more the merrier! But if we all don't fit in the 2 vans, some people may have to stay back (or go on their own tours of the distilleries we will only be running by!) as we can only have those 2 vehicles on the race course.

So check out the website, check your schedules, and let me know!

GET EXCITED!

9 comments:

  1. That sounds like SO much fun! I would definitely consider doing it, but there's a good chance we will be out of the country then. I do dream about doing a relay though, and this is one of the coolest I've heard about.

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  2. Wow! That sounds like so much fun! I wish I could do it but I will be starting anesthesia school by then and won't be able to take time off to travel:( But I'm sure it will be an awesome experience!!

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  3. That's so funny, just last night I was actually looking at a very similar race in Vermont on June 20-21: http://www.greenmountainrelay.com/.

    Maybe we can figure out together the best way to train for it!

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  4. Come and do the Vermont race! I'm going to think about it for another couple days and then email a group of friends... maybe we could field two 6-person teams and run some of it together.

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  5. How fun! I'm not sure if I'm working that weekned or not but I'll try to find out ASAP. My husband and I would be interested if we're not working.

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  6. Bummer, just found out that we are both working that weekend:(

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  7. "We would need to rent 2 passenger vans, and have 2 people who would volunteer to drive throughout the race, dropping us off and picking us up."

    Please try Google search for find out local car rental services information.

    Van Rentals

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  8. ya this is very good for the 2 to 5 Passenger and but more then 15 not save in car rentals

    but very good...

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